What are common mistakes with बड़ी संख्याएँ: लाख और करोड़?

Reading Indian comma placement as if it were the three-digit system. 🇷🇺 Russian speakers: the three-digit grouping is so automatic that 12,34,567 gets read as a different number entirely; there is no native model for lakh and crore at all.

बड़ी संख्याएँ: लाख और करोड़ | Hindi Grammar B1

बड़ी संख्याएँ: लाख और करोड़

B1 — संख्या

हज़ार, लाख, करोड़, अरब — और भारतीय अंक-विभाजन

I can read and write large numbers the way they appear in India

हज़ार, लाख, करोड़, अरब — और भारतीय अंक-विभाजन

Examples

— This flat costs ten million.
— His salary is a million a year.
— 1,234,567 rupees

संख्याB1

Large Numbers: lakh and crore

The Indian numbering system and how it is written

Learning Goal

I can read and write large numbers the way they appear in India

Exam Skills:बोलनालिखना

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

This flat costs ten million.

His salary is a million a year.

1,234,567 rupees

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

The system

हज़ार	1,000
लाख	1,00,000 - a hundred thousand
करोड़	1,00,00,000 - ten million
अरब	1,00,00,00,000 - a billion

The commas move

After the first three digits, Indian grouping is in twos: 12,34,567 rather than 1,234,567. This is standard in newspapers, price tags and bank statements.

In use

दो लाख रुपये - two hundred thousand rupees
सौ करोड़ की फ़िल्म - a film that earned a billion
डेढ़ लाख - a hundred and fifty thousand

लखपति and करोड़पति are the words for wealth, and करोड़पति is in the title of the country's biggest game show.

Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

Reading Indian comma placement as if it were the three-digit system.

Common Error Patterns

Indian comma placement read as three-digit grouping

After the first three digits the groups are twos: 12,34,567.

lakh and crore converted wrongly

lakh is 100,000 and crore is 10,000,000.

This flat costs ten million.

crore, with no Russian single-word equivalent.

His salary is a million a year.

Salaries are quoted in lakhs per year.

1,234,567 rupees

The Indian grouping of the same number.

Practice in course

Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises

B1 Course

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Frequently asked questions

When is बड़ी संख्याएँ: लाख और करोड़ used?: After the first three digits, Indian grouping is in twos: 12,34,567 rather than 1,234,567. This is standard in newspapers, price tags and bank statements.
How is बड़ी संख्याएँ: लाख और करोड़ formed?: लखपति and करोड़पति are the words for wealth, and करोड़पति is in the title of the country's biggest game show.
What are common mistakes with बड़ी संख्याएँ: लाख और करोड़?: Reading Indian comma placement as if it were the three-digit system. 🇷🇺 Russian speakers: the three-digit grouping is so automatic that 12,34,567 gets read as a different number entirely; there is no native model for lakh and crore at all.

Sources

देवनागरी लिपि तथा हिंदी वर्तनी का मानकीकरण — केंद्रीय हिंदी निदेशालय, शिक्षा मंत्रालय, भारत सरकार, 1983
The Government of India standard for Devanagari spelling, followed for all written forms here.
Outline of Hindi Grammar — Oxford University Press, 1995
R. S. McGregor's outline, the standard concise academic description of Hindi morphology.